hi guys i'm new to the board and was thinking on building a savage in this caliber.can anyone give me any info on this caliber.for bullets i'm looking at the berger 37gr vlds.thank's
kory what kind of velocity's can you achieve with the 37's and what would be the correct twist for this bullet.do you have any load data for the 37's?how's barrel life?thank's
Kory asked me to write as I owned a 17Br switch barrel. I never shot anything larger than the Hor. 20 V-Max and got 4596fps with the first group going into an incredible .108 for three shots. My twist was 1/10 and the work was done by Greg Tannel. I saw no need to do further experimenting. Jimmy Ling of famed LTV coined the phrase, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it†and I adhere to that philosophy. The next gun I have built will most likely have a 1/10 barrel as well as on in 1/7 or 1/8 for those longer bullets. But maybe not. Good luck with the project and know that the Savage would make a great switch barrel gun. Brooks
drd, I hope Brooks was able to answer some of your questions. I could not find any other 17 BR info, but did find some 17 PPC info with the Berger 37 grain VLD. The 17 BR should prove to be a tad faster because of the extra capacity, but these numbers will give you some rough ideas: 20.5 G N-135 aprox 3500 fps 20.5 gr of H-4895 aprox 3525 fps These loads are probably safe on the 17 BR, but PLEASE reduce 10% and work up very slowly. Trust me on this, 17 caliber cartridges are VERY finicky and one load will shoot just fine, then the next load with .3 grain more powder will lock the bolt. I've done it more times than I care to remember. Use a very accurate powder scale and increase loads in .2 gr increments watching for pressure sizes and velocity peaks. Good luck, Kory
thank's a bunch brooks and kory for your helpful info.i will be very careful and work up slowly.i will have to do some research to try to get the best twist for what i'm looking to do.thank's again
I have Kindlers book, but cannot seem to lay my hands on it at present. The 37g bullets need a 6 twist to stabilize, and cannot be driven past 3600 or they will blow. It is very good in the wind, as I would imagine it would be with the 37VLD bullet. I'll see if I can find that book. Might want to check saubier.com also. Mike
I shoot a .17 Bulldog, basically a .17br .200thou short, similar to the .17 athena but slighty shorter at 1.265 overall case length.Rifle details are, nesika j fatboy action,jewel,mbr stock,29in max hv contour 1/9t shilen barrel.Best load so far is 22grns h322,29grn kindlers boattails,cruising around 3850fps shoots superb off the bench often 5 shot groups in the .1s.Interestingly if i use the same load with 30grn flat base bergers i start popping primers!.I once worked a load up with the bergers to 4300fps with a different powder which i dont recall, but again primer piercing got really bad, hence why ive dropped down to 3850fps,want to keep my brass).I use modified redding and wilson dies for reloading, and skip ottos bushing die for case reforming.Personally if i was to do it all again id probably shorten the case some more, still some dead airspace in the case with my max loads,thats another debate on whether thats makes any diff).Dont have any experiance with the 37 bergers, but be aware that a 6t is required and they are the only bullets you can shoot in that tube.Overall i would say it is a really fun and very mild cartridge to shoot, the accuracy capabilitys will astound you, and is awsome on vermin.Hope this helps. Kevin
DRD, Don't waste your time with the .17BR and the 37gr bullets. I know of no one who has had any luck with the 37gr bullets. I could not get them to stabilize in a 6 twist,two different batches of bullets) when fired at velocities from 2700-3400fps. You WILL be better off getting a 9 twist and shooting bullets ranging from 27gr-32grs. A standard 17rem will do everything you want in terms of accuracy. Corbin
corbin,thank's for the info i definitely don't want to waste my time and money.i will have to look into this further.
Corbin -- a couple buds shoot lots of 37gn bullets from his 6tw lilja. bergers and homemade...2800-3400 and they work great! JB
JB, I would like to see a 17br with a 6 twist in action that would shoot the 37gr bullets well. I have yet to see these bullets work well in any twist. Do you know of anyone in the Southeast that has had any luck with this combo? Corbin
Corbin, You may want to give Todd Kindler a call. I know he shoots or has shot them in the past. They are documented in his book "The Sensational Seventeens". Kory
